Taipei dangdai art fair
  • Taiwanese artist, Michael Lin, to unveil site-specific installation in the UBS Lounge
  • Elaine Yan Ling Ng to present interactive work ‘Nexus’ that translates UBS Evidence Lab big data on global air quality into a visual performance
  • UBS to host VIP lounge talks and educational arts program with local community partner

Taipei, 19 January 2019 – The inaugural edition of international art fair, Taipei Dangdai, takes place between 18 and 20 January 2019 at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center. Presented by UBS and led by Fair Director, Magnus Renfrew, Taipei Dangdai aims to nurture contemporary art in Taiwan, create a long-term platform for artistic growth, and attract international galleries, many of which will be exhibiting in Taipei for the first time.

UBS has invited Taiwanese artist, Michael Lin, to create a site-specific installation, inspired by the context of the surrounding art fair. Incorporating patterns from signature Taiwanese textiles, the installation will seek to re- conceptualize and reconfigure the lounge space.

At the Lounge entrance, UBS will present the interactive installation Nexus by Chinese-British designer, Elaine Yan Ling Ng, which explores global air quality. The modular sculpture is powered by a feed of big data from a set of more than 8,000 air quality monitoring stations around the world, and analyzed by UBS Evidence Lab, a specialist research facility within UBS. The public is invited to interact with the information and select air quality data from different cities and countries which will create unique light performances akin to the composition of a piece of music. The artwork is part of a family of sculptures. The first was unveiled at the Greater China Conference in Shanghai earlier this month and a set of three will be shown in March at the UBS VIP Lounge at Art Basel in Hong Kong, of which UBS is the Lead Partner.

A series of talks given by gallerists, artists and art experts in the UBS Lounge will offer an in-depth look at Taiwan’s art scene. Throughout the fair, UBS and a local community partner will collaborate on an education program aimed at developing the general public's understanding of visual arts while UBS employees will have access to a series of programs on contemporary art and collecting.

Dennis Chen, Country Head and Head of Wealth Management, UBS Taiwan, said: “We are proud to present the Taipei Dangdai art fair which has immense potential for the development of local art and, more broadly, Taipei’s cultural ecology. The growth in the number of art collectors in Taiwan over the past 10 years has been matched by a further increase in the quality of local connoisseurship and appreciation of the arts. From this new platform, we aim both to support Taiwan’s creative scene and give our clients access to the most important galleries, dynamic artists, and artworks in Taiwan today.”

Magnus Renfrew, Fair Director of Taipei Dangdai, said: “We are thrilled to have UBS's support for the first edition of Taipei Dangdai. UBS has a longstanding commitment to art and culture and we look forward to working with them on what we believe will be a transformative arts event for Taipei.”

The collaboration expands UBS's sponsorship portfolio in Asia Pacific. The firm has a comprehensive global commitment to contemporary art which encompasses: a Global Lead Partnership with Art Basel; the UBS Art Collection; the UBS Art Competence Center and partnerships with fine art institutions across the globe.

Taiwan has one of the most established collector bases in Asia. Specialist art magazine, ArtAsiaPacific, believes Taiwanese collectors to be “amongst the most progressive in the region.” The country is home to a range of commercial galleries that represent both established and emerging artists, and which regularly participate at international art fairs including Art Basel and Frieze. Taipei Dangdai relies on a selection committee of leading gallerists based on peer review to guarantee international-standard exhibition quality, VIP services, and visitor experience.

For media inquiries about UBS’s partnership with Taipei Dangdai:

For media inquiries about UBS:

Angel Yeung, Corporate Communications, UBS
+886 2 8722 7265 | +852 2971 6884 | +852 9725 0297
angel.yeung@ubs.com

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About Michael Lin

Referencing art historian Vivian Rehberg, Lin turns away from painting as an object of contemplation, towards the view of "painting as a bounded, physical space, where one can settle into and inhabit." Lin's works orchestrate monumental painting installations that re-conceptualize and reconfigure public spaces. Transforming the architecture of the public domain, his unconventional paintings use patterns and designs appropriated from traditional Taiwanese textiles, and invite visitors to reconsider their usual perception of those spaces, giving meaning to its potential as an area for interaction, encounter, and re-creation.

Michael's works have been exhibited in major institutions and international Biennials around the world, including The Vancouver Art Gallery, 2010, The Rock Bund Art Museum, 2012, Auckland Triennial and California Pacific Triennial both 2013, High Museum, Atlanta, 2015 and most recently at The Shenzhen Biennial of Urbanism and The National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne.

Michael Lin lives and works in Taipei and Brussels.

About Elaine Yan Ling Ng

The British Chinese designer, Elaine Yan Ling Ng, founded The Fabrick Lab in 2013. A graduate of Central Saint Martins in London where she earned her MA Design in Textile Futures with distinction, her practice brings together textiles, electronics, biomimicry and installations. Her work has been exhibited at V&A and Science Museum in London, among other major international institutions. She is a TED fellow and has worked with international design companies such as Nissan Design

Europe and Nokia Design Beijing with multiple design awards, including the GGEF "Eco Innovator Award", Swarovski "Designer of the Future Award" and the Design of Asia Gold Award. www.thefabricklab.com

About UBS

UBS provides financial advice and solutions to wealthy, institutional and corporate clients worldwide, as well as to private clients in Switzerland. UBS's strategy is centered on its leading global wealth management business and premier universal bank in Switzerland, enhanced by the asset management business and the investment bank. UBS focuses on businesses that have a strong competitive position in their targeted markets, are capital efficient, and have an attractive long-term structural growth or profitability outlook.

UBS is present in all major financial centers worldwide. It has offices in 52 countries, with about 34% of its employees working in the Americas, 34% in Switzerland, 18% in the rest of Europe, the Middle East and Africa and 14% in Asia Pacific. UBS Group AG employs approximately 61,000 people around the world. Its shares are listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

UBS has had a presence in Taiwan since 1988, and has offered wealth management solutions to high net worth individuals since 2000. In 2008, UBS WM Taiwan was granted licenses to open bank branches in Taichung and Kaohsiung. UBS Taiwan was named Best Domestic Private Bank in Taiwan by Asian Private Banker for four consecutive years. In 2017, Private Banker International named UBS Taiwan Best Private Bank in Taiwan (Foreign).

About UBS and Contemporary Art

UBS has a long history of supporting contemporary art and artists. The firm has one of the world’s largest and most important corporate art collections and seeks to advance the international conversation about the art market through its global lead partnership with Art Basel and as co-publisher of the ‘Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report'. UBS also has partnerships with fine art institutions including the Fondation Beyeler in Switzerland, the Nouveau Musée National de Monaco, the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark, the Deichtorhallen in Hamburg, Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City and the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. UBS provides its clients with insight into the art market, collecting and legacy planning through its Art Collectors Circle and the UBS Art Competence Center. The UBS Arts Forum convenes and connects exceptional people in the art world, providing thought leadership at the cutting edge of contemporary art. For more information about UBS’s commitment to contemporary art, visit ubs.com/art.

About the UBS Art Collection

UBS has been an active contemporary art collector since the 1960s, a practice driven by the company’s long-held belief that the art of today provides inspiration and challenge while encouraging the innovative thinking that has shaped UBS’s corporate culture over the last half century. Today the UBS Art Collection is considered one of the largest and most important corporate collections of contemporary art in the world. Comprised of various individual art collections with unique attributes that have been integrated through a series of mergers and acquisitions – notably between Union Bank of Switzerland, Swiss Bank Corporation and PaineWebber Inc. – the UBS Art Collection today includes more than 30,000 paintings, works on paper, photography, sculpture, video and installations by artists from more than 70 countries. The vast majority of these works are displayed in more than 700 UBS offices globally, serving as an inspiration for employees and a platform for dialogue with clients and the public. UBS takes a dynamic approach to the Collection, continuing to evolve and grow through acquisitions of works from around the world in accordance with the geographical reach of its business. UBS also supports artists and galleries and lends works to major art museums and cultural institutions for public exhibitions.

About UBS Evidence Lab

UBS Evidence Lab is a team of experts, independent of UBS Research, that work across 12 practice areas and 45 specialized labs creating insight-ready datasets. The experts turn data into evidence by applying a combination of tools and techniques to harvest, cleanse, and connect billions of data items each month. Since 2014, UBS Research Analysts have utilized the expertise of UBS Evidence Lab for insight-ready datasets on companies, sectors, and themes, resulting in the production of more than 3,000 differentiated UBS Research reports. UBS Evidence Lab does not provide research, investment recommendations, or advice.

About Taipei Dangdai

Taipei Dangdai is a new international art fair that will take place in Taipei between 18 and 20 January 2019. Overseen by Fair Director, Magnus Renfrew, Taipei Dangdai will feature 90 galleries and places a strong emphasis on galleries from Asia. It is supported by a globally recognized selection committee and an advisory committee of leading regional collectors.

Taipei Dangdai provides exhibitors with an opportunity to broaden their collector base, and international exposure to a growing number of artists and galleries from across Asia. The name of the fair captures this spirit, as dangdai in Mandarin means “the present moment.” Held annually, Taipei Dangdai will provide insight into all that is happening in the world of contemporary art in Asia. The subtitle, Art & Ideas, highlights the two main focuses of the event: a leading international art fair and a convening of thought leaders from various fields.

Programming will include a roster of multidisciplinary talks that address issues pertaining to and beyond the art world. The inaugural edition of the fair will bring together 90 exhibitors from Asia as well as leading galleries from outside the region that have shown a continued commitment to showcasing their programs on the continent. In addition to a main exhibition section (Galleries), presenting leading galleries from Taiwan, Asia, and the rest of the world, Taipei Dangdai comprises three specialized sectors designed to highlight new galleries (Young Galleries Sector), spotlight artists through solo presentations (Solos sector), and feature works with accessible pricing (Salon sector).

Taipei Dangdai is a joint venture between four of the world’s leading art event producers, organizers, and administrators: Single Market Events (Tim Etchells), Angus Montgomery Limited (Sandy Angus), Ramsay Fairs Limited (Will Ramsay), and ARTHQ / EVENTS Limited (Magnus Renfrew). https://taipeidangdai.com/